Prognostic significance of CEA reduction rate in patients with abnormally high preoperative CEA levels who underwent surgery for lung cancer.

Background: The aim of this research was to investigates the prognostic importance of change in carcinoembryonic antigen (CEA) levels (particularly abnormal high concentration) in patients with non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) between before and after surgery.

Methods: The study involved 68 patients with NSCLC ( preoperative CEA value ≥ 10 ng/ml) who received curative operation from 2012 to 2020. Preoperative and postoperative serum CEA levels, CEA reduction, and other clinicopathological factors were determined on medical records.

Treatment of intractable bronchopleural fistula with a one-side-closed silicone stent using retrograde approach: A case report.

A male patient (age: 85 -years) with lung cancer underwent basal segmentectomy. Subsequently, he underwent emergency open window thoracotomy for a bronchial stump fistula. The general and nutritional conditions of the patient improved; nevertheless, natural closure of the fistula did not occur.

Soy protein β-conglycinin ameliorates pressure overload-induced heart failure by increasing short-chain fatty acid (SCFA)-producing gut microbiota and intestinal SCFAs.

Background And Aims: Soybeans and their ingredients have antioxidant and anti-inflammatory effects on cardiovascular diseases. β-Conglycinin (β-CG), a major constituent of soy proteins, is protective against obesity, hypertension, and chronic kidney disease, but its effects on heart failure remain to be elucidated. We tested the effects of β-CG on left ventricular (LV) remodeling in pressure overload-induced heart failure.

Sacubitril/valsartan improves diastolic left ventricular stiffness with increased titin phosphorylation via cGMP-PKG activation in diabetic mice.

Titin, a giant sarcomeric protein, regulates diastolic left ventricular (LV) passive stiffness as a molecular spring and could be a therapeutic target for diastolic dysfunction. Sacubitril/valsartan (Sac/Val), an angiotensin receptor neprilysin inhibitor, has been shown to benefit patients with heart failure with preserved ejection fraction. The effect of Sac/Val is thought to be due to the enhancement of the cGMP/PKG pathway via natriuretic peptide.